名人诗歌|Operation Memory

We were smoking some of this knockout weed when

Operation Memory was announced. To his separate bed

Each soldier went， counting backwards^{1 from a hundred}

With a needle in his arm. And there I was， in the middle

Of a recession， in the middle of a strange city， between jobs

And apartments and wives. Nobody told me the gun was loaded.

We'd been drinking since early afternoon. I was loaded.

The doctor made me recite my name， rank， and serial^{2 number when}

I woke up， sweating， in my civvies. All my friends had jobs

As professional liars^{3， and most had partners who were good in bed.}

What did I have？ Just this feeling of always being in the middle

Of things， and the luck of looking younger than fifty.

At dawn I returned to draft headquarters. I was eighteen

And counting backwards. The interviewer asked one loaded

Question after another， such as why I often read the middle

Of novels， ignoring their beginnings and their ends. when

Had I decided^{4 to volunteer for intelligence work？ In bed}

With a broad， I answered， with locker-room bravado^{5. The truth was， jobs}

Were scarce， and working on Operation Memory was better than no job

At all. Unamused， the judge looked at his watch. It was 1970

By the time he spoke^{6. Recommending clemency7， he ordered me to go to bed}

At noon and practice my disappearing act. Someone must have loaded

The harmless gun on the wall in Act I when

I was asleep. And there I was， without an alibi^{8， in the middle}

Of a journey down nameless， snow-covered streets， in the middle

Of a mysteryor a muddle^{9. These were the jobs}

That saved men's souls， or so I was told， but when

The orphans^{10 as百度竞价推广bled for their annual reunion， ten}

Years later， on the playing fields of Eton， each unloaded

A kit^{11 bag full of troubles， and smiled bravely， and went to bed.}

Thanks to Operation Memory， each of us woke up in a different bed

Or coffin^{12， with a different partner beside him， in the middle}

Of a war that had never been declared. No one had time to load

His weapon or see to any of the dozen essential jobs

Preceding combat duty. And there I was， dodging^{13 bullets， merely one}

In a million whose lucky number had come up. When

It happened， I was asleep in bed， and when I woke up，

It was over： I was 38， on the brink of middle age，

A succession of stupid jobs behind me， a loaded gun on my lap